Abstract
Despite the long-standing knowledge of the phosphine sulfide moiety, its behavior within more elaborate molecular architectures remains considerably less explored than that of analogous phosphine oxides and phosphonium salts. When attached to a donor fragment—for instance, an alkynyl group coordinated to a transition metal—the phosphine sulfide functionality can impart novel properties to the metal complex. In particular, the presence of the sulfur atom enables additional metal coordination, while the overall molecular motif renders these compounds promising candidates for application as surfactants in gold plasmonic nanoparticle systems.